In the related art, a binding machine called as a reinforcing bar binding machine configured to wind a wire on two or more reinforcing bars, and to bind the two or more reinforcing bars with the wire by twisting the wire wound on the reinforcing bars has been suggested.
The binding machine includes a wire feeding unit configured to feed a wire, a curl guide unit configured to curl the wire fed by the wire feeding unit around reinforcing bars, and a binding unit configured to twist the wire curled by the curl guide unit and to bind the reinforcing bars. When binding the reinforcing bars by the binding machine, the wire is first mounted (set) to the wire feeding unit. Then, the wire feeding unit is driven to feed the wire toward a curl forming part, and the wire is curled at the curl forming part, is twisted at the binding unit and binds the reinforcing bars.
The wire feeding unit includes a pair of spur gear-shaped feeding members disposed so that outer peripheral teeth (outer peripheral surfaces) thereof face each other. The pair of feeding members can be disposed so that the outer peripheral teeth thereof can be meshed with each other, and is configured so that when one feeding member (drive-side feeding member) is rotated, the other feeding member (driven-side feeding member) is also rotated. In the meantime, the drive-side feeding member is rotated by a motor via a gear and the like (for example, refer to Japanese Patent No. 4,729,822B and U.S. Pat. No. 8,567,310B).
The outer peripheral surfaces of the feeding members are formed with grooves in a circumferential direction.
When mounting the wire to the wire feeding unit (when sandwiching the wire by the pair of feeding members), the wire is set to the grooves of the outer peripheral surfaces and the feeding members are moved to positions at which the outer peripheral teeth thereof are meshed with each other.
When mounting the wire to the wire feeding unit, the driven-side feeding member is moved (opened) away from the drive-side feeding member so as to easily mount the wire, so that a space for mounting the wire is secured between the feeding members.
As described above, when setting the wire between the feeding members, only the driven-side feeding member is moved. Therefore, the drive-side feeding member still exists on a feeding path of the wire or at a position closely adjacent to the feeding path of the wire. For this reason, when mounting the wire, the drive-side feeding member gets in the way, so that a tip end portion of the wire may collide with (be caught at) the drive-side feeding member. When the tip end portion of the wire collides with the drive-side feeding member, it is difficult to mount the wire. In some cases, the wire may not be appropriately mounted.
The present disclosure has been made in view of the above situations, and an object thereof is to provide a binding machine capable of easily and securing mounting a wire.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present disclosure provides a binding machine including a wire feeding unit configured to feed a wire to be wound on an object to be bound, and a binding unit configured to twist the wire wound on the object to be bound, wherein the wire feeding unit includes a pair of feeding members configured to sandwich the wire therebetween and to feed the wire by a rotating operation, a wire feeding drive unit connected to one of the feeding members and configured to rotatively drive the one feeding member, and a load reducing part configured to reduce or remove a load of the wire feeding drive unit, which is to be applied to the wire via the one feeding member.
According to the present disclosure, the load of the wire feeding drive unit, which is to be applied to the wire via one feeding member, is reduced or removed, so that one feeding member does not interfere with the mounting of the wires when mounting the wire between the pair of feeding members.